Think Eli Whitney, Samuel Morse, Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs individualists and heroes all.

FORBES: Capitalism, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurialism: Words That Do Have Meanings

Inventor-entrepreneurs such as Samuel Morse and Alexander Graham Bell created new means of communication, which further fostered commerce as well as home life.

FORBES: 'Give Back' Is One of the World's Most Impoverishing Commands

Yet in a sense, the technology pioneered by Samuel Morse has been reborn with a modern twist, in the form of text messages sent between mobile phones.

ECONOMIST: Text messaging

The central question is one the court has wrestled with at least since Samuel Morse attempted to patent all methods of using electromagnetic waves to transmit information back in the 1848.

FORBES: Mayo Clinic Case Asks If A Doctor's Method Can Be Patented